Ya Gotta Be Kiddin'

This posting is going to be SOLELY about the beginning of Christian Radio Station WEEC, prior to actually going on the air in Springfield OH, on December 15, 1961. It will consist, mainly, of quotes from a book by the title listed above, written by the Rev. Dr. R. Glenn Greenwood, one of the Founders of WEEC.

Dr. Greenwood is in heaven now, but his family has graciously consented to my quoting from the book. The actual quotes will be in italics, while my comments are in regular print.

Many visitors to this blog will know of my later participation in the ministry of WEEC, beginning March 1, 1965. And, though I DID meet with the founders of the station in their homes PRIOR to the station going on the air, other than advice from my experience in Christian Radio, I had NOTHING to do with its beginning.

Those who should be honored for this “vision”, are Paul R. Pontis, R. Glenn Greenwood and Dwight Coffelt. Though others appeared to “cheer them on”, so to speak, THEY and their wives, were the ONLY ones to commit themselves, their reputations, and their funds.

Sadly, of the three, only Dwight Coffelt remains here on earth - along with Mrs. Coffelt and Mrs. Greenwood.

Quoting from the book:

This author was pastoring a Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio and enjoying a fruitful ministry. One of the ministries of the church was broadcasting the evening service live from the church over a local secular radio station. The response to this broadcast was positive, and the church soon learned radio was a great tool to spread the Gospel and reach a large segment of the local population.

The book goes on:

The first significant date in the station’s history was Novembet 1960. The board of deacons discussed various items of business at their monthly board meeting and reviewed the ministry of the church. One of the deacons suggested that the church pursue the possibility of broadcasting a daily fifteen-minute Bible study on one of the local secular stations. The live, evening broadcast was proving a very popular and fruitful ministry. The deacons were unanimous that such a possibility be pursued and adopted a plan that required sending some men to the local secular stations to see if such was possible.

Continuing:

It is uncertain who volunteered, or was chosen, but Paul Pontis was designated to pursue the possibility of a fifteen-minute, daily broadcast over one of the local stations. The deacons agreed to make this a specific matter of prayer before the next monthly board meeting.

Of course, Paul Pontis reported back to the board, but

both local stations were not interested in selling the church time for a fifteen-minute Bible study.

The reason: they had no time available on their program schedule.

It was obvious the men didn’t believe that, because Rev. Greenwood reports that they thought this was merely an excuse.

Here comes an important moment in this “project"

…..silence prevailed for a few seconds, which seemed like minutes, but was soon broken when one of the deacons said, “Why don’t we start our own radio station?”

WHOA! Where did that thought come from? (Where do YOU think it came from?)

Rev. Greenwood continues:

Silence was now replaced with laughter and chuckles. The person defended his suggestion by making reference to a Christian radio station, WFCJ, operated at Miamisburg, Ohio. (A southern suburb of Dayton.)

He goes on: What made this comment so humorous was that all the men in the room knew about radio was that it had an “off” and “on” knob and another knob to adjust the volume.

Question: Does God ONLY use trained and experienced folk in His Ministry? At the beginning of WEEC, apparently not.

The next sound the author (Rev. Greenwood) remembered was from one of the deacons who said, “You have got to be kidding!”

Oh Yeah? Read on:

Rev. Greenwood comments further: Noah did not have Course 101 in engineering and boat designing, yet God called him to build the ark.

(God) chose Abraham and Sarah who were childless and past the time to plan and produce a family.

The book continues to chronicle the events: The lack of radio experience was reason enough to refrain from undertaking such a monumental task of starting a radio station. However, these men rose to the occasion and accepted the challenge to study the procedures necessary to give birth to WEEC. God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.

Notice that, though they were “not qualified”, they stud(ied) the procedures necessary to give birth to WEEC.

We learn that after they called on their church to pray, there was a men’s group that met weekly at a local restaurant, and they mentioned the project to them. The answer: What if it fails? What do you men know about radio?

Glenn met with a group of area ministers and shared the burden. Some sounded interested, but no one spoke up with support.

The three valiant men got together, and considered Proverbs 4:26:

“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.”

This raised questions:

1. Where are we now in our venture?
2. What type of station? AM? or FM?
3. How will it be financed? Commercial? Or Faith?
4. Where will the studio and tower be located?

Did the lack of “support” quell their enthusiasm? No Way!

The next step was to incorporate. The corporate name “World Evangelistic Enterprise Corporation” was available. They took it.

Part of that incorporation was a Constitution and By-laws, including a Statement of Faith. They wrote it.

What about a bank account? Well, how much money was needed to open an account? The three of them searched their pockets and came up with $10. They were “in business”.

Where to find the large amount of funds needed, to get started? After approval by the Ohio Securities Division, they started selling Debenture bonds, at an interest rate of 5%, up to the $50,000 authorized.

The license. What to do about that?

They contacted Charlie Shaw, the WFCJ engineer, and he filled them in.

The founders and Mr. Shaw drove overnight to Washington DC to meet with a Communications Attorney. They made a frequency search, and found 100.7 FM as the ideal spot for a 77,000 watt station. They made application, and were told to go home and wait. They did.

Listen to Rev. Greenwood:

June 15 they learned that a station near the Springfield area filed a request for a station on top of the 100.7 FM frequency. Immediately, the men knew this would require a lengthy and costly hearing unless the problem could be resolved peacefully.

Negotiations between the two groups were unfruitful. The other group wanted to be paid to drop out of the situation. They insisted that WEEC should move its frequency choice. (If they moved, they would have to operate on lower power!)

Though Glenn’s group had formally filed with the FCC, the other one planned on doing so before the deadline. The principal of that group, rather than mailing in the application, kept it in his pocket while driving in Indiana. He was seriously injured in an auto accident there, and never filed!

Upshot: WEEC’s application was granted - in the unheard of month of August when the FCC was on vacation. The staff was authorized to grant the license, since there was such a backlog.

Let’s let Glenn Greenwood describe the following:

The date was December 15, 1961, and the excitement was high at the studio and transmitter site. The time was 6PM. The switch would soon be thrown, and the announcer would put WEEC on the air. It was only appropriate that the hymn “To God Be The Glory” should be the first message to sound forth when the station went on the air.

December 15, 2008 was the 47th anniversary of that first broadcast, and God STILL keeps it going.

Praise the Lord!

Rev. Greenwood’s final verse in this book is: “And let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Galatians 6:9

Our Progenitors

I suppose I don't have to describe what "progenitors" are. I won't, unless later I think maybe I should have. Pictured here first are Jean's parents: Wilbur and Ida Anderson. They were natives of Champaign County Ohio - one of them living to be over 90 (Dad), the other over 80.

He was a farmer and later, butcher, generally. Though shortly after moving to "town", he became the City Night Watchman, basically a Night Policeman. They owned a Cities Service gas station, that included what we laughingly call "A Jot-em-down Store" (shades of Lum and Abner on the radio.)

They were parents of 4 adult children, and one infant who lived only for a short while.

Jean's mother, of course, worked in the home, as well as the farm yard when they lived in the country. In her later years, she was a "Binder Supervisor" for the Crowell-Collier Company, in Springfield, Ohio.





My dad, Walter O. Maddex, after farming for a few years before I was born, worked for many years in a Hardware Store, for the vast sum of $25 per week. After retiring from that, he was a bookkeeper for the Pure Oil Company Distributor in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. He walked over a mile every day to work, up in his eighties. He lived to be over 90 as well, his death possibly caused by a fall and broken hip in our garage.

My mother, Mae Maddex, lived to be over 80, the last several years in poor health. Her final days (as were Jean's) were spent in a Nursing Home. I had one sister, Miriam, who was 11 years older than I.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Jean and I announced that we were going to marry, there was more to it than that. Jean was 19 1/2 years old, I was not yet 19. Parental consent, of course, was required, in both cases.

I had been drafted in the Army, though, and since we had been dating for a couple years, we felt that we should marry before I left for overseas.

Our arguments for marrying finally prevailed, and many people in Mechanicsburg said, "It'll never last!" - and they meant it. Our parents didn't quite see it that way, or they would not have consented. One lady in our town was CONVINCED that we would remain married "for the duration", as she said. Her name was Edna Hunt. She said, "You just wait and see. This will last!" Oh........I didn't mention that Edna was the Head Clerk in the County Court House that issued Marriage Licenses.

In those days, blood tests were required before a marriage license would be issued. (Interestingly, with today's "promiscuity", and STD, a blood test is NOT required.) Anyway, our blood test had to be done in Columbus, for some reason. And, getting back to the County Seat of Urbana took some time.

Edna knew we were coming, however, so she kept the doors open until we arrived. (I dearly wish, and hope, that Edna somehow knows that we were married 65 years.)

Previouly, I've described our wedding and subsequent events, and they can be seen in an earlier posting on this blog.

Proverbs 31 speaks of a virtuous woman. I don't know why men/fathers could not be included in that paean of praise thus - "her children arise up and call her blessed."

Praise the Lord!

Family Photos

The family has to start somewhere, and our wedding picture from March of 1943 is the one I'm using. This was taken in Springfield OH. Mike and Jean. Before Jean passed away in October 2008, we had been married 65 WONDERFUL years.













Then, our family, including Mike's parents. Children, ages 8, 5 and 1.














Thirdly, my all-time FAVORITE of Jean, that she didn't like very much, but I kept it in my date book every day for 15 to 20 years!









Finally, after 65 years of Wedded Bliss!










Ephesians 5:31 "....a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."

Mystery Words

WARNING: This posting will be absolutely boring to you, UNLESS, of course, you are one of those like I, who am fascinated by new words, and the definitions thereof. In some cases, you may KNOW the words, but are interested in the various different definitions. If THAT’S the case, read on!

These are unusual words that I have copied from some of the books I have read in recent months - mostly mysteries - written by British authors:

Definitions are copied from:

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

irascible - adj - quick tempered
ebullient - adj - lively, enthusiastic
lugubrious - adj - gloomy, sad, mournful
opulent - adj - lavish or ample
serried- n - close together
febrile - adj - relating to fear
prodigious - adj - sizable or marvelous
eponymous - adj - giving a name to something
perspicacity - n - acute perception
mendacious - adj - false, telling lies
abjuration - n - formally denouncing or denying yourself
insipidity - n - being dull or flavorless
verdant - n - green, or naïve
reticule - n - woman’s purse
sanguine - adj - confident, cheerfully optimistic, ruddy
deportment - n - conduct or behavior
prolixity - adj - tiresomely wordy
pusillanimous - adj - weak spirited, lack of boldness and resolve
stupefaction - n - amazement, astonishment, unable to think
trepidation - n - apprehension, trembling
caparison - n - decorative covering for a horse, elaborate clothing
profligate - adj - wasteful, with low morals
depredation - n - attack involving plunder and pillage
declivity - n - sloping, downward inclination
verisimilitude - n - appearing to be true, but no evidence
garrulous - adj - talking too much, wordy
perfunctory - adj - routinely done, but hastily by duty
termangant - n - offensive term against a woman - argumentative
captious - adj - overly critical, entrapping
maladroit - adj - lack of skill or tact, clumsy, insensitive
assiduous - adj - very careful, hard working
serendipitous - adj - a natural gift for discovery
plenitude - n - abundance, full or complete supply
predilection - n - special liking or preference for
ancillary - adj - subordinate in importance, providing support
synoptical - adj - general view of the whole
proscenium - n - front of a stage
precocious - adj - mentally advanced at an early age
prodigious - adj - sizable, marvelous and amazing
castellated - adj - indented or serrated
sardonic - adj - disdainfully and cynically mocking
harridan - n - woman pretending to be advanced in age
truculence - n - defiance, or “don’t tell me”
capacious - adj - able to hold a lot or a large quantity
reticule - n - small woman’s purse
raglan - adj - sleeves that run to the collar
eremitical - n - like a hermit who lives alone
detritus - n - debris, rock fragments
prolixity - n - a habit of being wordy
abstruse - adj - obscure, difficult to understand
loquacious - adj - very talkative
adamantine - adj - unyielding, hard and brilliant
convivial - adj - pleasant, enjoyable, sociable
cerulean - adj - deep blue, like the sky
factotum - n - someone who does many jobs
in situ - adv adj - situated normally in its original place
marmoreal - adj - made of marble, or someone aloof/impressive
circumlocution - n - indirect way of speaking, more quite wordy
contumely - n - contemptuous, insulting, scornful, derisive
comestibles - n - food, something edible, usually cooked
erudition - n - scholarship
midges - n - tiny, swarming flies
belvedere - n - building with a fine view
machair - n - Scottish - pasture on a beach
insouciance - n - carefree attitude, lack of anxiety or concern
diffidence - n - a lack of self confidence. reserved or restrained
nouveau riche - n - one who shows off newly acquired wealth
ha-ha - n - a ditch serving as a garden boundary
anodyne - n - a comforting thing that soothes, comforts or relaxes
modus operandi - n - method or way of doing something
preternaturally - adj - going beyond nature, supernatural, uncanny
argot - n - special language used by a particular group
aphorism - n - succinct comment stating or expressing an opinion
parvenu - n - person with newly gained wealth or social status
crenellate - v - to build with battlements
ineluctable - adj - inescapable
condyle - n - rounded end of a bone - ball and socket area
coup doeil - n - a quick look, that gives an impression
sedulous - adj - working persistently with great zeal
auroch - n - extinct wild ox
supercilious - adj - contemptuously indifferent, arrogant
recreant - adj - disloyal, cowardly
conurbation - n - urban sprawl, suburbs merging
porcine - adj - related to or resembling pigs
avatar - n - image of someone in virtual reality

For those of you (are there any?) who have stuck with me through these 85 words, I say, "BRAVO". Did you learn anything? I surely did, but, at my age, my memory sometimes doesn't retain stuff I want it to. Though I've often said, "MEMORY is not my problem - it's RECALL that bothers me."

Now that you've read this far (all 3 of you), I want to confess why I posted such a boring set of words: I have one complete posting ready but waiting for a photo, and another half-done that needs an official statement. Want to know the subjects?

Naaahh!

Are you sure?

Well, if it's OK, here goes.

The one that's finished is called "Ya Gotta Be Kiddin'", based on the book with that title, written by the late R. Glenn Greenwood, one of the founders of the 47 year old Christian Radio Station WEEC. The book chronicles the beginnings of that station.

The other is just waiting for some historical information from an official of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation Department(NICTD), about the South Shore Commuter Train, that runs from Chicago to South Bend and back.

Excited? Can't wait? (I'll bet!)

Closing thought: Words are very important, since they are what are used to convey thoughts to another. In the Bible, the Word is JESUS. He took on human flesh, was humanly born as a baby, then grew up and gave his Life on the Cross for our sins.

Word? Words? Very important, don't you think?

Words, Grammar and Redundancies III

NOTICE: The first and second parts of this title have already been posted, and may be seen by “scrolling down” the “elevator” on the right side of your screen, using your “mouse” and “left-clicking/holding” on the elevator.

Please read them first, in order, so to properly understand this one. Thanks.

I REALLY didn't think there would be a third iteration on this theme, but these thoughts keep swirling around in my head. I think maybe what triggered it was the new/large words I’ve noticed in the British mysteries I’ve been reading.

Such as: “nouveau riche”; “diffidence”; “insouciance”; “erudition”; “contumely”; “circumlocution”; “in situ”; “prolixity”; ad infinitum. (The last one was NOT on that list. It’s MY word. Means “goes on and on”.)

What do these words mean? I sometimes don’t know, so I look them up.

More: “loquacious”; “abstruse”; “ha-ha” “convivial”; “factotum”; “eremitical”; “capacious”; “truculence”; on and on.

I wrote these down in just the last couple of months of reading. Did I mention that I’m retired; my wife passed away last October; and I sometimes find it hard to “amuse” myself - so, since I enjoy reading, I go to the local library, and take out books - especially mysteries? I read some non-fiction too, as well as the Bible.

The non-fiction has included: “Lincoln and His Admirals”, a Civil War account; “The King and the Cowboy”, about Theodore Roosevelt and Edward VII of England; “Intrepid”, about the nation’s “most legendary warship”; “The Design Revolution”, about Intelligent Design; “The Language of God”, a treatise supporting “evolutionary creation”; “Christ in the Psalms”, by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon; “Julius Caesar”, his life; the Yalta Agreement, with Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill; accounts of General Washington and the Revolutionary War; et al.

Back to the words: Seems like a lot of new ones, right? Except that the list is nowhere near complete.

Look at these: “sardonic”; “castellated”; “modus operandi”; “prodigious”; “precocious”; “predilection”; “maladroit”; “assiduously”; and, as I say, ad infinitum. Remember - I have to look up most of these.

So far, there are 71 of them in my notebook - ALL from those mysteries.

And now, in between a few “spasms” of writing, I’ve read a little more, and have found 9 more “curious” words, including: “argot”; “aphorism”; “parvenu”; “crenellate”; “ineluctable”; “anodyne”; “condyle”; “coup d’oeil”; and “excarnation”. (not an American word, by the way.)

Hello!!!

I’ve just had an epiphany (not in a religious sense) about WHY these British mystery writers use all these outlandish words! I think they KNOW that we Yankees read their books, and they just want to show us how much we DON’T know. What do you think? It’s a “nationalistic” sort of thing, don’t you know.

Going on -

Thinking about these words, and the related thoughts about them, I think I’ve concluded that I might be “nouveau riche with words”. “compris?” Or, “comprendez vous?” or Do you “ken”?

Let me help you: “nouveau riche” is described as a person who “likes to display newly acquired wealth”. then, “nouveau riche with words”, MIGHT mean that I like to “display” new words. Or, in Mechanicsburg slang, “Show off!”

Do you dig that?

If you know me very well, or, have read most of these “blog postings”, I’m sure you’ve discovered that.

But………wait a minute! Is that bad? One of my faithful “blog” readers says, “But Mike, that’s what makes you, you.”

Well, at least it does reveal some things about me. (I hope there are no psychologists reading this.) Some may feel it’s bad, and some may even be disgusted with me for doing this.

But, I have to re-state what I said in the first iteration of this subject:

“a ‘gabby’ person like me doesn’t have to make sense, or impress anyone with ‘material’ or ‘pertinent’ stuff. He just has to get something off his (or her) mind. If someone is interested enough to read it, it’s a ‘plus‘, but not a requirement for the ‘gabby’ person to feel fulfilled. Got it?”

So… flawed that I am, I will probably still write these postings to the “Grandpa Mike” blog, in order to “get something off my mind”.

By the way, no one has told me yet how my blog site came to be called “Grandpa Mike”. Understand……..I don’t object to it, since it fits me, but I REALLY don’t know how it got named that. Any thoughts?

I am again reminded of: “Do nothing through strife or vain glory, but let each esteem others better than himself.” Philippians 2:3

Oh boy!

Radio Ministry III

NOTICE: The first and second parts of this title have already been posted, and may be seen by “scrolling down” the “elevator” on the right side of your screen, using your “mouse” and “left-clicking/holding” on the elevator.

Please read them first, in order, so to properly understand this one. Thanks.

Though this post could properly be called, simply, WEEC, it IS a continuation of my ministry - the THIRD part of this title iteration, actually. Ya gotta be real brave, or something, to have followed this far! Thanks.

Arriving in Springfield OH in March of 1965, Jean, Jim, John, Martha and I had the following participation:

We bought a house on Keene Avenue.
Jean was the Matron of the home.
Jim was to be graduated from Lane Technical High School in Chicago the following June.
John was a Sophomore in Northeastern High School, to be graduated in 1967.
Martha was a Seventh Grader at Northridge Schools, to be graduated from Northeastern High School in 1972.
I started the first day of a 34 year ministry in charge of WEEC.

At an early Board Meeting after my arrival, my position of General Manager was confirmed, and I was elected Secretary of the Board as well.

The early days of the station were, as are most radio stations in the US, commercially underwritten. They sold “commercials”. They charged broadcasters. They had a Sales Staff.

A year or so before I arrived, the Board saw that sales were not sufficient to keep the station “afloat”. They concluded that advertisers were not sure that there would be enough listeners to a solely Christian station to warrant their support. So, by an act of “faith” - one of many - they decided to go entirely commercial free, and then depend on listeners, prompted by God, for the station’s support. That’s where they were when I arrived.

Sometime in the summer of 1965 our financial situation became rather untenable - not totally so, but we didn’t know where we would get the money to pay the staff the next pay day. They were already several weeks behind in their pay when I arrived, and I worked on that by paying them one day earlier each week, than we did the previous one.

But this time, we were REALLY broke! Couldn’t pay the staff.

As usual, Paul Pontis and I went to lunch together. We came back to his office (where the WEEC offices were, temporarily), and sitting in his 1965 Chrysler in the parking lot of his business, we frankly decided that WEEC could not go on, and that we must, certainly, “close the doors”.

We had a prayer meeting right there in the car, and we both said, independently, that we WOULD shut the doors, unless God miraculously intervened. We felt that the station was God’s - not ours - and that we had no right to “keep it afloat” on our own, without His approval. The “approval” being, provision for our needs.

I wish I could say that some rich listener/donor suddenly called to say he would give us thousands of dollars, but that didn’t happen. We saw no evidence of a SUDDEN influx of funds, BUT, we did meet that week’s payroll, and the next, and the next - one day earlier each week, until we were “caught up”. God DID provide, and we saw no need to “embarrass” Him by “closing shop”.

Praise the Lord!

The contributions to the ministry continued, and, gradually increased. However, expenses increased also, and we were always just barely “breaking even” - sometimes short of that.

Later that summer, retired IRS Agent Lou Holder, himself a relatively new “believer”, indicated an interest in WEEC. The Auditor we had got too busy to continue, so Lou volunteered to take over that responsibility.

I first met Mel Johnson in Springfield, prior to our moving to Chicago. He had been the roommate of our pastor while at Moody, and the pastor invited him to a series of meetings at our church.

Then, in Chicago, I got to know him better, while he was Director of Chicagoland Youth for Christ. While I was Minister of Christian Education at our church there, Mel came for youth meetings. (I just remembered the title of one of Mel’s workshops - “The Care and Feeding of Parents”) In addition, he was also a regular speaker at our Denomination’s summer camp - Camp Hickory, in Round Lake, IL.

Prior to my leaving Moody to join WEEC, Mel had moved to Minneapolis MN to take over that YFC Program. At the same time, Mel was the host of the national program TIPS FOR TEENS, starting at WMBI, then moving to KTIS in Minneapolis - the anchor station of Northwestern College and Radio - for him, now home base.

My knowledge of Mel’s experience in the ministry, and in broadcasting on several Christian stations in the nation, prompted me to recommend him and Lou Holder - as members of our Board.

In our discussions on the Board about the WEEC finances, Mel suggested that we hold an annual SHARATHON, to raise “Faith Promises” for our annual budget.

For some reason, pride maybe, I just couldn’t agree to that. I preferred letting the listeners decide on their own how to contribute to WEEC, rather than as a suggestion by us.

Then, in the fall of 1973, I believe, I reported that our finances were in a $40,000 deficit. What to do?

Mel Johnson - “Have a one day SHARATHON, to ask the listeners on the air, to provide Faith Promises for the $40,000, in the month of December.”

I acquiesced.

Without months of preparation required in subsequent years, we told the listeners about it. We set aside one whole day’s broadcasts, for appeals to the listeners to give $40,000 above what they would normally do.

By the end of that day in December, I had to hang my head in shame for “opposing” the concept of using a SHARATHON, since the listeners had promised MORE than the needed $40,000. In fact, by the end of December, we had received $69,000!

I was then convinced that the concept was sound, and it has been used every year since.

PTL!

“But my God shall supply all of your need, according to His Riches in Glory, by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19

KYB Club

“Saaaayyyy! It’s two o’clock Sunday Afternoon, and you know what that means!” “Sure……KYB Club, with your Aunt Theresa!”

“Hello boys and girls!” (Arpeggio)

Song - “KYB Club Time, this is our KYB Club Time. With joy we greet it, we run to meet it, dear KYB Club Time. Happy Hearts have we, using our talents all for Thee. We come not sadly, but singing gladly, dear KYB Club Time.”

Confession: I had to get help from my son Jim (Jimmy in the picture), and from the perennial Producer of the program, Chuck Christensen, for some of the words.)

That’s how the KYB Club opened each Sunday, in at least 1954 to maybe 1960 in our experience, over WMBI in Chicago. I know it started earlier than 1954.

“Aunt Theresa” was Theresa Worman, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, and children’s story writer/reader “par excellence”.

KYB? Know Your Bible, of course.




In the picture above, my memory can only list: Aunt Theresa in the chair; Martha Maddex on her lap; Johnny Maddex left front leaning on the table; and Jimmy Maddex, extreme upper right. Most of the other faces are familiar, but I can only name some. Chuck and I remember Irene Pugsley, leaning forward behind Aunt T, and her sister Sue next to her. The girl second from left, we think was named Beverly Calm. Jim tells me the tall boy in the back was Terry Erickson.

If alive, they would ALL be in their 50’s and 60’s now. Our Martha went to be with the Lord in 2001, at age 47. She was 2 years old in this picture.

The KYB Club was one of our necessary family projects in those years. Others included: riding the “EL” from Diversey, North to Evanston; back south past Diversey to Jackson Park; then back north to Diversey. All for 10 cents each. (1956, you know.)

We came to Chicago from a town of 1,800 people, and Chicago - especially the “EL” and Subway - was fascinating. We even ran to the front door when we heard a “fire or police siren” go by. Sirens were a big thing in Mechanicsburg! (Not in Chicago.)

Though KYB Club was aired every Sunday, we went in only every other week - for a “live” broadcast at 2PM, and a recording for next week at 3PM, or thereabouts.

Features I remember on the program include: Story Time, Singing Lady, Three Preachers, and “At the Bangles”, a story dramatized with a Daddy and Mother, along with “Billy and Patty Bangle”. Occasionally, she would feature one of the “tiny tots” singing a solo. One time, at age 5, Johnny sang one of the “ditties” that I wrote:

“Here’s little 5 year old Johnny Maddex to sing a song written by his very own daddy. Go right ahead, Johnny.,” (We have a recording of that somewhere.)

The Three Preachers - one of which was our son Jimmy - read what Aunt Theresa had written for them. “Here are the Three Preachers. What is your sermon today, preachers?” “Three things about…….”

There was also a “choir”, consisting of maybe 15 of the boys and girls, who sang at least one Gospel Song every Sunday. They stood on a “riser” on the west wall of Studio A. After attending awhile with our “kids”, I was asked to lead the “choir”. They sang well.

The Producer of the program was Chuck Christensen, a Staff Producer at WMBI, who produced such other programs as: Ranger Bill; Sailor Sam (Chuck was Sam); Something To Sing About, with Bill Pearce; and sometimes, alternating with Joyce Blackburn, Stories of Great Christians - et al.

Oh.......I just now remember the pianist: Lucille Becker Ingebretsen!

Aunt Theresa’s devotion to Christ was evident in her demeanor at all times. In addition to KYB Club, she hosted a daily “Story Time” for boys and girls, near the noon hour every day.

And, though a single lady, she was devoted to children - as expected. And, she had an eye out for some of our families, who might need a little “financial encouragement”. Occasionally, I (and others I’m sure), would find a small envelope in our mail boxes, with cash in them. Never identified. I think she would be surprised that I knew. I never approached her about it since she was secretive (not letting the left hand know about the right), but one time, I just said, in another context, “Thanks, Aunt Theresa!” Moody has always paid staff monthly, rather than weekly. Once you get used to it, it really works. (Like Social Security today.)

But in the days before the Institute Trustees took a BOLD step with salaries, we sometimes ran out on the “25th of the month”, or thereabouts. They seem to be competitive in salaries today.

Thank the Lord for His Provision, and His using us humans to carry out the Gospel Message.

I Timothy 5:18 “….the laborer is worthy of his reward.”

Praise the Lord.